Blurb
After her mother abandoned her when she was just fifteen, Dove fled the only life she’d known with her younger sister, Serenity, frightened that the authorities would tear them both apart.
Leaving behind a life of poverty and constant hardship with the group of travelers she had grown up with, Dove has no choice but to turn to a life of debauchery and prostitution to feed their bellies and provide them with shelter and security.
Fast forward ten years and life is so very different. Dove, now a world famous, high class escort receives a job that will change her life forever.
Her once best friend and fellow traveler, Flick O’Kane, now a Hollywood star, hires Dove to accompany him to a charity ball, unaware just who exactly this premium whore really is.
Both their lives come together in an explosion of sex, drugs and secrets. The friendship they once held close is about to be tested when their past threatens to rip them both apart and endangers not just their own lives but the very life Dove has broken her own soul for – Serenity’s.
***WARNING***
This story is not for the fainthearted. It includes scenes of non-consensual sex, forced prostitution, drug abuse and violence.
#TBR https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26824837
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Review
When the only option Dove has to save her sister, protecting her innocence and giving her a future, is to sell her body as well as her soul, she does what she has to do, detaching herself from the experience, numbing her mind, and praying that she doesn’t lose every piece of herself before she can reclaim her identity. Dove’s life has not been her own for eight years; she’s been owned by a number of men who used and abused her any and every way they deemed fit, and even after she got out from underneath the devil himself, her life is still not hers to do with what she wants because the danger than surrounds her and her sister could claim them at any time.
Although many men have used her body for their own pleasure, there’s only one man Dove would willingly give it to, and unexpectedly, 10 years after Dove left him regardless of how much she loved him and he loved her, Flick O’Kane reenters her life with his own past – one filled with mistakes and regrets and until they can be open and honest with one another and reveal their secrets and truths, they both will continue to live lives that aren’t the ones that they want because despite the fact that their feelings for one another are still present, their baggage may be insurmountable, especially when there’s someone who wants Dove dead and will go through anyone to get it done.
I know going into a D.H. Sidebottom novel that its darkness will consume me and leave me searching for a way for the hero and heroine to get out of their situation unscathed, even though I know that that never seems to be a possibility because there’s too much danger and drama to wade through without losing at least a part of who they are at their core. But what Sidebottom’s texts also prove is that there’s beauty beneath the horror and even though people feel defined by their choices and actions, there’s still a chance to be who they want as long as they find a balance and deal with the past.
Dove is an incredible heroine who makes the ultimate sacrifice for her sister, Ren, so that she can flourish despite what Dove has to do to ensure that outcome. Dove is strong and intelligent, and she is perfectly aware of what people in society think of her, but she hardened her heart a long time ago and slips on her mask no matter how much shame and self hatred she feels. Dove’s past is told in flash backs, resulting in Flick and readers learning how she ended up being the high paid escort that she became and what she suffered through in order to take her life back at least a little bit so many years later. Dove’s story is not an easy one to hear, but it exposes who she is beneath the make-up, the flawless hair, and killer wardrobe a woman who wishes she could be with the man she’s always loved and keep her sister safe and happy.
Flick O’Kane took his own path away from his shitty childhood, but even with the fame and money, he’s never felt complete because he’s always wondered why Dove left him without a word. I don’t blame Flick for how he reacts when he sees Dove again after so many years, but he also frustrates me because he can’t see past his own issues…his own regrets, which almost costs him everything he’s always wanted.
Dove is a dark and gritty read that illustrates the sacrifices people are willing to make for those they love. The story line takes a number of twists and turns and the revelations are at times perplexing as well as shocking. Dove, Ren, and Flick have already paid a high enough price and now it’s time to balance out the scales and even though it may be done in ways that are frowned upon, as long as their futures become ones they can actually realize, nothing should stop them from making it happen.
A complimentary copy was provided in exchange for an honest review.
5 Poison Apples
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